Galeria claims “multiple interested parties” for complete takeover

Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof says there is quite some interest for a (near) complete takeover. The German department store group is now entering the second round with parties looking to acquire at least seventy department stores.

International candidates

Receiver Stefan Denkhaus told the German press that several international candidates showed interest in the first round. The second round has now started, in which the receiver is initiating talks on possible binding bids. Potential buyers will be given an additional two weeks to finish those bids, until 22 March.

The department store group, though on the brink of bankruptcy, claims to be in a comfortable position: only candidates to acquire Galeria as a whole are currently being considered. Candidates to take over fewer than seventy branches are ignored by the receiver for the time being. Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof hopes to complete the acquisition as early as April. At its Belgian subsidiary chain Inno, a separate sale process has been initiated.

To ensure the chain’s future, Denkhaus is also negotiating with the landlords of the department stores. Galeria aims for rents of at most 12 % of the store’s turnover, but in some locations rents are considerably higher. The receiver is threatening to close stores if landlords do not make concessions. Those landlords undoubtedly include its (former?) parent company Signa, whose financial problems were precisely what prompted the bankruptcy filing.